Newspaper Page Text
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Highs In the mid*7os.
Lows in the high 50s.
THIS ISSUE
Copyright 0 2001 Forsyth County News
Trout streams flowing
with good catches.
Ragelß
Local gymnastics
team wins state title.
Rage IDA
LAKE LANIER LEVELS
Date Level
March 31 1060.83 ft
April 1 1060.92 ft
Aprils
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5. ■ FCL m W
A special page of news
for young readers.
Pagel2A
INDEX
Classifieds 28
Deaths ......2A
Government 3A
Honor roll - 4A
Opinion 11A
Outdoors.— —IB
COMING
FRIDAY
■——— II I
Commentary Galore
Columnist Linda Bowles
shares her perspective
of events on the
editorial page. ■
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Forsyth Countyjfcws
J Your "Hometown Paper" Since 190
Vol. 92, No. 54
Gas customers rush to pay before cutoffs
By Bill Johnson
Staff Writer
About 150,000 of Georgia’s natural gas
customers who are delinquent on their gas
bills got some good news and some bad
news Monday.
First, the bad news- The 90-day Public
Service Commission moratorium on cutoffs
ended.
The good news: The five-day weather
forecast for north Georgia called for tem-
April showers welcomed
Recent rain
raises hopes,
but lake level
is still low
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
Don’t start building an ark just
yet.
Thunderstorms over the past
two weeks have made only a
minor dent in rainfall deficits at
Lake Lanier and turned many
beach areas into mud pits. The
lake still remains 10 feet below its
full pool level of 1,071 feet above
sea level and is not expected to
replenish overnight, according to
the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers.
The steady storms have
helped, however, raindrop by rain
drop. The lake, which serves as
the metro area’s primary source of
drinking water, has risen more
than four feet since Feb. 1.
Some local marinas are willing
to weather a late tourist season if
the payoff means more spring
showers.
“We’re praying for more rain,”
said Brenda Fraser with Bald
Ridge Marina in Cumming.
The marina closed many of its
boat slips last year as a result of
the statewide drought that led to
mandatory watering restrictions
and made many residential docks
look more like observation towers.
Although students are on spring
break this week, Fraser said the
tourist and boating season will not
begin in earnest until the sunny
weather returns.
Karly Harman at Lan-Mar
Marina in Gainesville said some
boaters went out on the water in
the winter but business consider
ably increases in May and June.
According to the National
Five vehicles ;
involved in
Monday wreck |£|
Photos/Tom Brooks “ *
A gold 1993 Toyota Camry driven by a 28-year-old
B Gainesville woman skidded into a car stopped at a red
light at Hammond’s Crossing in north Forsyth County
Monday night, causing a chain reaction involving five
I vehicles. The cars were at a red light in the northbound
lane of Hwy. 369. The driver of the Camry, Collette
Dawn Prelss, was transported to Baptist Medical Center
j with minor head and chest injuries following the 6:50
p.m. collision. The driver of a Honda Civic, 21 -year-old
J| Sarah Trauth of Cumming, was transported to the hospi
jAl tai by a family member after she complained of neck
r 1 and back pain. The other three drivers were not injured.
Witnesses said the accident tied up traffic for more than
MEL I an hour at the intersection. Any citations will be issued
’wjJ by the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office upon completion
of its investigation.
peratures to soar up to a high of 80 degrees.
Still, spokesmen for the state’s largest
natural gas marketers Georgia Natural
Gas, Scana Energy and Shell Energy say
they have been flooded by last-minute calls
from customers trying to pay their bills in
full or make payment arrangements.
The PSCs emergency moratorium start
ed Jan. 17. The commission attempted to
help alleviate extreme hardships caused by
the staggering increase in natural gas prices
and bitterly cold temperatures last winter.
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Photos/Tom Brooks
Thunderstorms over the past two weeks have made only a minor dent in rainfall deficits at
Lake Lanier and turned many beach areas into mud pits. The lake still remains 10 feet below
its full pool level of 1,071 feet above sea level and is not expected to replenish overnight,
according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Weather Service, heavy rains are
expected to continue through the
rest of this week.
The metro area received 9
inches of rain in March, a month
that typically yields only 5 inches.
The area received 15.45 inches
between Jan. 1 and April 2, which
is 0.2 inch below normal for the
year, said forecaster Shirley
Lamback.
In 2000, metro residents
watched lawns wither and the lake
evaporate. The metro area
received 35.56 inches of rain for
the entire year, 15.21 inches
below normal.
Rain or shine, rangers are
preparing for the Friday opening
See RAIN, Page 2A
THURSDAY APRIL 5, 2001 I
Y- '■ v .71
J** 'Z - • M «
I
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Natural gas prices have skyrocketed in
Georgia since the natural gas industry was
deregulated four years ago. But, in some
cases, other factors have contributed to
making it more difficult for consumers (p
pay their bills.
Georgia Natural Gas, the state’s No. 1
marketer, admitted recently it had over
charged 140,000 customers by 15 percent.
A company spokesman blamed the error on
corporate miscommunication and said the
company would issue refunds in the form
Lanier Tech-CIBA Vision
program graduates class
By Linda Irvine
Staff Writer
Lanier Technical College has
again fulfilled its mission to meet
the needs of businesses and indus
try, in terms of workforce devel
opment training, by graduating a
class of 45 employees from CIBA
Vision who received certification
as Manufacturing Associate
Technicians in ceremonies at the
Forsyth campus on Tuesday.
This was the first class to grad
uate since Lanier changed its
name from institute to college in
December 2000.
Dr. Joe Hill, president of the
college, welcomed the graduates
and praised them for their com
mitment in finishing the MAT
course.
“It took a lot of effort and hard
work on your part,” he said.
“When you walk away with your
certificate, just remember this is a
new start for many of you. We
hope to see you back here for
more classes.”
The partnership between CIBA
Vision, headquartered in Johns
of credits.
Public Service Commissioner Lauren
“Bubba” McDon ’.ld of Cumming warned
natural gas marketers to obey all commis
sion rules and regulations when disconnect
ing gas service.
The marketers’ responsibilities include:
proper notification five business days prior
to any planned disconnection; an attempt to
make personal contact with the customer
See CAS, Page 2A
Woman
pleads
guilty of
teen rape
By Colby Jones
Staff Writer
A 33-year-old Cumming
woman has pleaded guilty to lur
ing a 14-year-old boy to her
house for vodka and sex.
Patricia Futch pleaded guilty
on Friday in Forsyth County
Superior Court to statutory rape
and furnish
ing alcohol
to a minor.
The senten
ce handed
down by
Judge Jeff
Bagley re
quires Futch
to serve two
years in pri
son and
eight on
probation.
Detectives said Futch gave
vodka to the teen and had sex
with him at her home in the
5000 block of Shady Grove
Road betweeh December 1999
and January 2000.
She was remanded into the
custody of deputies following
the hearing.
Futch will be barred from
having any contact with children
besides her own and must under
go therapy tailored for sex
offenders while on probation.
Assistant District Attorney
Sandra Partridge said the case
differs from the majority of
statutory rape cases because the
defendant is a woman.
Partridge said the distinction,
however, does not excuse
Futch’s actions or change her
See SENTENCE, Page 2A
Creek, with another location in
Amwiler, began in fall 1999. The
company was founded in 1980
and is the the world’s second
largest manufacturer of contact
lenses. The company employs
1,900 people at the Johns Creek
plant and 7,500 people world
wide.
In an effort to prepare their
employees for a new position with
an increase in pay and responsibil
ities, the company agreed to a
partnership with Lanier Tech,
which would administer the train
ing.
Mike Grayson, global head of
manufacturing for CIBA Vision,
said, “When we first approached
the idea of training employees for
this MAT certification, we pan
icked. about getting enough of
them to register for the course. We
knew we needed at least 20 stu
dents to make the class feasible,
but when registration came, 110
employees signed up.”
“Our panic then turned to
‘How do we handle this large a
See LANIER, Page 2A
50 CENTS
? J
Futch
